According to the 2005/2020 census, the population of Cúcuta is approximately 637,000, which ranks it as the 6th largest city in the country. For several years it has had the lowest unemployment rate in the country, which is currently 8.6%.[5][6]

It is situated in the Cordillera Oriental in the Andes and is connected with Venezuela through the Pan-American Highway. Its area (including rurality) of 1,176 square kilometres (454 sq mi) represents 5.65% of the department. Its altitude is 320 metres (1,050 feet) above sea level, with an average temperature of 28 °C (82 °F) and annual average precipitation of 1,041 mm (40.98 in).

The city of Cúcuta was called San José de Guasimales from 1733 to 1793,[9] the year in which the name changed to San José de Cúcuta—"San José" (Saint Joseph) is for the Virgin Mary's husband, and "Cúcuta" means "The House of Goblins" in the language of the Baríindigenous group.[10] In the city's seal, a legend states, Muy Noble, Valerosa y Leal Villa de San José de Cúcuta ("Very Noble, Valiant and Loyal Town of San José of Cúcuta").[11] The city has the nicknames "City Without Borders", "Gem of the North," and "City Forest.".[12]

Cúcuta was originally a pre-hispanic settlement. It was entrusted to Sebastian Lorenzo by Pedro de Ursua as an encomienda in 1550. Juana Rangel de Cuellar founded Cúcuta on June 17, 1733, and donated a further 782 hectares (1,930 acres). The village, centred on a church, grew considerably due to its strategic commercial location, and eventually became a city.[13]

Alfínger, in search of El Dorado, arrived in an area of indigenous settlements called Tamalameque along the Magdalena River, fighting and defeating several tribes. Alfinger was eventually killed in the outskirts of present-day Chinácota in a battle with Chimilas and Chitareros Indians. With Alfínger dead, Fedro St. Martin took command of the troops and returned to Coro, passing through the territory of Cúcuta.

Cúcuta. 19th Century

In 1541 Hernan Perez de Quesada reached the territory of Chinácota, but had to turn back the same year due to resistance by the indigenous people. Shortly thereafter, Alfonso Perez de Tolosa left El Tocuyo (Venezuela) and went to Salazar de Las Palmas, through Cúcuta, but also had to turn back after losing many soldiers in clashes with the natives.

In 1549 Spanish troops, commanded by Pedro de Ursúa and Ortún Velasco, invaded North Santander and reached the valley of Pamplona. In tribute to the Spanish city of Pamplona, the Spaniards founded the city of Pamplona. The new town soon attracted numerous people because of its agreeable climate, and gold mines that were discovered in the region. Further expeditions left this town and completed the conquest of the current territory of North Santander.

An expedition commanded by Diego de Montes founded the town of Salazar, but it was soon destroyed by the Cacique Cínera. In 1583, the town was rebuilt by Alonso Esteban Rangel (great-grandfather of the founder of Cúcuta), on a site more appropriate for its defense in the event of new attacks by the natives.

The second expedition, commanded by Captain Francisco Fernández de Contreras, reached the lands of the Hacaritamas indigenous group and, on July 26, 1572, founded the city of Ocaña, calling it "Santa Ana de Hacarí". Some of his colleagues named it New Madrid, and others Santa Ana of Ocaña. The next year, Antonio Orozco, a subaltern of Fernández, founded the town of Teorama, while the Augustinian Friars founded a convent in what is today the city of Chinácota.

"A journey through the city centre where the Cathedral of St. Joseph, the Palace of Government and the Monument to the column of Bolivar are located is returning to the historical roots of our ancestors.".

In the early 17th century a great part of the valley of Cúcuta belonged to Captain Christopher de Araque Ponce de Leon. The land passed through inheritance to his son Fernando Araque Ponce de Leon, who was owner of the entire territory from the Valley of Cúcuta to the village of San Jose, the jurisdiction of the city of San Faustino. These fields had been donated to the older Araque by the Governor of the Province of New Mérida on September 9, 1630.

The constant hostility of the Motilones indigenous group towards the whites who lived in the valley, and their economic ambitions, were key factors in the request for the erection of a parish with the name "San José". Juana Rangel de Cuéllar donated 782 hectares (1,930 acres) on June 17, 1783 for the construction of a church and land for Spanish families. Today this area is the neighbourhood of San Luis.

The Battle of Cúcuta was one of the most important events of the Spanish American wars of independence, due to its role in the independence of Colombia and Venezuela. This battle was the beginning of the Admirable Campaign of Simón Bolívar.[14][14] On February 28, 1813, Bolivar captured the city after a battle that lasted from 9:00 a.m. until early afternoon. About 400 men led by Bolivar fought 800 troops led by the Spanish general Ramon Correa. Bolivar's forces reported losses of two killed and 14 injured, whilst the royalists are said to have suffered 20 killed and 40 injured.[15] The victory freed the city of Cúcuta and led to the Admirable Campaign.[16]

Colonel Simón Bolívar then launched a major offensive against the Spanish forces who were on the east bank of the Magdalena River and quickly achieved resounding victories. These led him to undertake a journey to liberate the Valley of Cúcuta held by the command of royalist Colonel Ramon Correa.

On August 30, 1821 the Congress of Cúcuta took place at the town of Villa del Rosario (today part of Cúcuta) in the church known today as the "Historic Temple of Cúcuta". The congress was established by Antonio Nariño and its participants included Francisco de Paula Santander, Simón Bolívar, and other leaders of Spanish America's struggle for independence from Spain.

The main objective of this congress was to unify the territories of New Granada (Colombia and Panama) and Venezuela and thus create a huge state to be known as the Republic of Colombia (Gran Colombia). Ecuador subsequently joined Gran Colombia.

At 11 am on October 3, 1821, Simón Bolívar entered the meeting room in the sacristy of the church. He took a seat next to the president of Congress and was sworn in as president of the fledgling Republic of Colombia.

On 18 May 1875, Cúcuta was largely destroyed by the earthquake of Cúcuta, also known as the "Earthquake of the Andes". The earthquake occurred at 11:15 a.m.; it destroyed Villa del Rosario, San Antonio del Tachira and Capacho, seriously damaged the Venezuelan settlements of San Cristóbal, La Mulata, Rubio, Michelena, La Grita and Colón (among others), and was felt in Bogotá and Caracas.

In the 19th century, the construction of a railroad set off an Industrial Revolution in the city. The railroad had four branches: North, East, South and West.[17] The North branch was constructed from 1878 to 1888, and connected Cúcuta with Puerto Santander and Venezuela. Construction of the Eastern and Southern branches began in 1878; the South branch linked with Pamplona, Colombia, and ended in El Diamante. The West branch was not built owing to economic problems. The railroad company fell into bankruptcy and was closed in 1960.[18]

Cúcuta has a tropical savanna climate. The mean temperature is 27.6 °C; high temperatures are around 38 °C. There is a sharp contrast between the wet season and the dry season. The driest months are December, January, February and March; the wettest are April, May, September, October and November. June and July usually have significant precipitation, whereas August is sunny and windy. The annual precipitation is around 1,041 mm (40.98 in).

Cúcuta's streets are organized in a grid layout adopted from Spain in colonial times. Calles (streets) run from east to west, perpendicular to the hills, and numbering increases to the north and to the south from Calle 1. Avenidas (avenues) run from south to north, parallel to the hills, and numbering increases both east to west, and west to east from a central avenida numbered 0 (Avenida Cero, one of the city's most important avenues). From west to east, avenues are numbered with an E added to their number, to denote East (este) .

More than 300 neighborhoods form the urban network. Poorer neighborhoods are in the north, north-west and south-west, many of them squatter areas. The middle class lives mostly in the central and eastern areas.

The red and black North Santander Department flag was exhibited for the first time in 1928, when the first National Olympics were held in Cali. However, the flag of Cúcuta[22] was not legalized until Mayor Carlos A. Rangel issued Decree 106 on May 3, 1988.

The shield of Cúcuta[22] was adopted on February 3, 1958, by Decree 032, after a request by the History Academy of North Santander. The shield is a classic shape, and carries the title conferred on the city by Royal Decree of the Emperor Carlos IV: Very noble, valiant and loyal town of San José of Cúcuta.

The upper part depicts the arms of the city's founder Juana Rangel of Cuéllar, who donated lands for the foundation of the city on June 17, 1733. They are five silver and red fleur-de-lis in the shape of reels, on a golden background.

The lower part of the shield displays the arms that the National Congress adopted for Colombia by the Law of October 6, 1821, at its meeting in the Villa del Rosario. In the center are a quiver of spears, marked with X's, and a set of bow and arrows, tied with tricolor tape. The spears represent attributes of the Roman consuls; the X is a symbol of the right of life or death; the bow and arrows are symbols of the Hispanic Indu race.

The Anthem of Cúcuta[22] was legalized by means of Decree 039 of February 8, 1984, by Mayor Luis Vicente Mountain Forest. The lyrics were written by Father Manuel Grillo Martínez, and the music by the master Pablo Tarazona Prada. It was chosen as the Anthem of Cúcuta by a unanimous vote in a contest held in the Theater Zulima.

Housing construction in 2010. The entire city is experiencing great development.

Rivers Building Towers. April 2011.

The city is notable for bilateral trade and manufacturing. Its location on the border between Colombia and Venezuela has made possible strong links with the Venezuelan city of San Cristóbal, Táchira.[24]

Its Free Zone [25] is the most active of all those in the country and one of the most active in all Latin America, largely due to Venezuela being Colombia's second largest trade partner.[citation needed]

Colombia signed a Free Trade Agreement with the United States against opposition by Venezuela. Despite this opposition, industries from Venezuela are constructing their infrastructure in Cúcuta to export their products to the United States, registering their products as if they were Colombian, a strategy that allow thems to export without paying certain tariffs. For that reason, Cúcuta is expected to become an industrial city.[26]

Colombian law provides tax exemptions for Venezuelan imports through the Zona Franca, which, coupled with the motorway links between Cúcuta and Maracaibo, increases the possibility of exports from Maracaibo into Colombia.[27]

For travel outside the city, there is a bus station called "Terminal de Transportes" (to be replaced by a new one), the Camilo Daza International Airport (Colombia) and the San Antonio Airport (Venezuela). Eighty years ago the city had the "Railroad of Cúcuta", which connected with Venezuela.

The main forms of public transportation are the bus (or collective) and taxicabs. In addition, National Planning has a project to build a mass transit system, under the name "Metrobus" (Cucuta).

Law 100 of 1993 is the law governing Health in Colombia, which is regulated by the Ministry of Social Protection. In Cucuta and North Santander, health is administered by the Municipal Institute of Health (IMSALUD) and the local Department of Health, respectively. Entities such as the Colombian Red Cross, Colombian Civil Defense (for emergencies, calamities and natural disasters) and the Colombian Family Welfare Institute (ICBF), are part of the social protection system.

The city has the following public health institutions (or State Social Enterprises, ESE): ESE Erasmus University Hospital Meoz, the ESE Francisco de Paula Santander[30] (Clinical Social Security), the ESE CardioNeuroPulmonar Rehabilitation Center, the ESE Hospital of Los Patios, and ESE Hospital of Villa del Rosario. Private health centers include: San Jose Clinic, the North Clinic, Clinica Santa Ana, Lions Clinic, the Samaritan Clinic, and Profamilia (sexual and reproductive health).

The aforementioned entities are part of the network of institutions providing services to health attached to the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Municipal Health Department. The Erasmus Hospital Meoz holds fourth-level scale and specializes in performing highly complex surgeries, such as transplants and reimplantations. Additionally, it offers healthcare puentos distributed in the different districts of the city, which deal with varying degrees of complexity. The city has a large number of health promoting entities (SPE's), such as Colsanitas, SaludCoop, Cafesalud, etc.

Cúcuta has more green zones than many cities in Colombia. Some consider the city an urban lung, due to its greenery and lack of pollution. Cucuteños, and the legion of foreigners who reconstructed the city after the 1875 earthquake, led by engineer Francisco de Paula Andrade Troconis, led to the development of greenery in the city. The first planted trees were clemones. Soon they were replaced by acacias, peracos and almond trees that adorned the parks and roadsides. An example of this city design is the Avenue of the Lights (based on oití, ficus and cují), that forms a natural tunnel admired in the rest of the country and by tourists.